“He celebrated as if he had scored in the final” - Hungary coach’s dig at Cristiano Ronaldo from Euro 2020 resurfaces after latest penalty miss
Hungary manager Marco Rossi's old comments about Cristiano Ronaldo have resurfaced after the striker's latest penalty miss. Rossi had questioned the Portuguese's over-the-top celebrations during their clash with the Selecao in EURO 2020. The manager had stated that Ronaldo celebrated like he had scored in the final.
Portugal secured a 3-0 win over Hungary in their opening match of EURO 2020, with Ronaldo scoring in the 87th minute, three minutes after Raphaël Guerreiro gave them the lead. He then added another from the spot in the 92nd minute to make it three for his side.
Rossi was not happy with the attacker's celebrations at the end of the match and was quoted by Daily Mirror as saying:
"Ronaldo is a great champion but at times he can be annoying. After the penalty with us he celebrated as if he had scored in the final. People notice these things."
Portugal went on to qualify for the knockout stages of EURO 2020 despite finishing third in the group, with France and Germany ahead of them. However, Cristiano Ronaldo's side were knocked out by Belgium in the last 16.
This time, Portugal have made it to the quarterfinals with a penalty shootout win over Slovenia in the Round of 16. Notably, Ronaldo missed a spot-kick in the extra time of the game and burst out in tears soon after.
Cristiano Ronaldo blasted by pundit for crying on the pitch against Slovenia
ESPN pundit Steve Nicol questioned Cristiano Ronaldo after he burst into tears in the recent EURO 2024 game against Slovenia. The pundit believes such antics would have put more pressure on his Portugal teammates, who look up to him as a leader.
He said:
“Ronaldo is not just a football player to Portugal, he’s way beyond that. So how do you think that affects the team, when the guy who is way up there looks as though he’s mentally collapsed? We all understand that the way he is mentally, he can pull himself together the way he did in a short space of time [during the penalty shootout]. But we don’t know what the rest of the team are like and so to do that was not only putting his team in a bad position by missing a penalty, he’s now put them in a mental state as well."
“All they’re thinking is, ‘has this guy recovered yet?’ The game has kicked off and I’m sure some of the players were still thinking, ‘is he okay?’ I don’t get it. There’s one thing to take responsibility and that’s fantastic and what you want in any player. When you’ve got a 39-year-old forward and you’re in extra time, are you telling me the right thing to do is keep him on? I don’t think so,” he added.
Portugal eventually qualified for the quarterfinal after winning 3-0 in the penalty shootout. Cristiano Ronaldo redeemed himself by converting his spot-kick but goalkeeper Diogo Cosa was the hero for saving all three Slovenia penalties.